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KEF owners thread

Well the Ferrofluid showed up yesterday so hopefully I'll have time on Sunday to tackle the T33's. I watched the online tutorials about it and it looks pretty straight forward, anything I should look out for or advice before I jump into it?
 
[QUOTE="halkaloogie, anything I should look out for or advice before I jump into it?[/QUOTE]

Pay attention to the wire colors and the terminals you disconnect them from. The magnet is very strong and can easily pull any tools into it. Mark the magnet and the diaphragm with a sharpie for correct reassembly.
I use the tools in the photo attached. One is plastic the other aluminum. The blade is very thin. Go around a little at a time as many times as it takes for the diaphragm to separate from the magnet. Resist twisting the blade. With a little luck the two sided tape might be reusable.
Good luck.F045FF84-0FC0-45A0-8F98-3518F14F31E9.jpeg
 
Well I got off work early and couldn't help myself so I tore into the 104/2's and redid the T33's. It was much easier than I anticipated, and so far it seems to have livened them up. I only had a few minutes to mess around with them before the family came home, but so far so good.

The crossovers all look to be original except for a pair of resistors, but at this point I don't feel like messing with them.
 
halkaloogie said:
Well I got off work early and couldn't help myself so I tore into the 104/2's and redid the T33's. It was much easier than I anticipated, and so far it seems to have livened them up. I only had a few minutes to mess around with them before the family came home, but so far so good.

The crossovers all look to be original except for a pair of resistors, but at this point I don't feel like messing with them.
Click to expand...

What makes you think the resistors aren't original? Those aren't parts people usually change when refreshing crossovers.
 
bigx5murf said:
What makes you think the resistors aren't original? Those aren't parts people usually change when refreshing crossovers.
Click to expand...
I have the work order from the previous owner that states that the donuts were redone and a pair of resistors were replaced due to "board corrosion". I wouldn't have even noticed them if I didn't know and just glanced at it, because the board is still original except for those. and it's only one on each crossover.
 
halkaloogie said:
I have the work order from the previous owner that states that the donuts were redone and a pair of resistors were replaced due to "board corrosion". I wouldn't have even noticed them if I didn't know and just glanced at it, because the board is still original except for those. and it's only one on each crossover.
Click to expand...

That's really weird. Corrosion is usually caused by leaking caps, or excessive moisture. I don't think either would target only the resistors.
 
bigx5murf said:
That's really weird. Corrosion is usually caused by leaking caps, or excessive moisture. I don't think either would target only the resistors.
Click to expand...
I have no idea, it seemed weird to me too. There is no damage to the board or signs of leaking, but I did notice that on each tweeter there was a hot spot on the positive lead wire in the same spot. I'm sure they were fine, but I soldered on new wires just because I was in there already.
 
Did you measure the resistance of your tweeters?
By a hot spot, do you mean that the insulation was melted or blackened on the positive leads?
 
Lou G said:
Did you measure the resistance of your tweeters?
By a hot spot, do you mean that the insulation was melted or blackened on the positive leads?
Click to expand...
Yes there was melted spots on the lead wire insulation , no blackened parts just where it became hot enough to be soft and got malformed. And both tweeters read exactly 4 ohms
 
kef 104.2.jpg
Hi all AKers
So finally got myself a pair of 104/2`s , I started my Kef journey with Celeste iv great little speakers, then moved up to the Concord iv with factory stands they were ok.
Then came 103/3 with kube loved these speakers but hated the kube, Sadly they sounded very thin without it ,then came xq1 with a sub lovely little speaker but not the vintage kef sound i was after. I had a dabble with Tannoy xt6f but No! they got sold fairly quickly( so much for what hifi reviews)
Which brings me to my black beauties what can i say that has not been said before , they are just Yes thats what i want to hear spot on just right no more no less.
Mine came to me with 1 dead t33, coil fried, so search I did for 2 replacements but £200 plus for a pair of old 33`s was not happening.
I did what some would think was a no no I bought a pair of copy tweeters from Midwest speakers. They work perfectly straight drop in same spec as the originals and sound just as good as the 1 working t33 i have, at some point i will try and find a replacement coil but no rush these copies are v good indeed
So if your t33`s go belly up try the midwest ones
Just put Roger Waters amused to death so excuse me off I go into audio bliss
ps I also did the remove rear feet thing and remove grills yes it does open up the sound
 
Last edited:
mikeszx81 said:
spot on just right no more no less.
Click to expand...
Yep, that pretty much says it. They are the most engaging speakers I've owed, or heard. They make you want to sit down and just enjoy the music.

Congrats! :thumbsup:

I did see some T33 coils, on the Bay, a while back. Don't know what shipping, taxes, etc. would be to your neck of the woods though. :dunno:
 
mikeszx81 said:
yeah i saw those but think the listing said 8 ohm so not sure about them :dunno:
Click to expand...
I'd contact the seller and ask if they actually measured them, or just assumed them to be 8 ohm. People (flippers) sell things all the time that they don't have a clue about.
 
There is a T33 for sale on eBay now and another listing for 2 T33s, one not working. They are all 4 ohm. Pretty pricey and I am sure they would need the ferrofluid replaced.
 
I recently refurbished my first pair of KEF speakers, model 103.2. They were in pretty decent shape except for one side of one cabinet that must have been against a brick wall or something similar at some point and had a lot of scratches. I also wasn't sure of the status of the crossovers.

Here's a recap (no pun intended) of the work I did on these:

- Sanded original finish from cabinets
- Applied five coats Danish oil, sanded with 600 grit in between coats
- Recapped crossovers with a mix of Erse poly, Erse NPE, and Dayton Audio NPE capacitors
- Replaced woofer basket mounting grommets with parts found at local Ace hardware
- Replaced black plastic protection LED bezels with chrome bezels

Pics:

KEF 103.2 After 020720 003.jpg KEF 103.2 After 020720 007.jpg KEF 103.2 After 020720 008.jpg KEF 103.2 After 020720 009.jpg KEF 103.2 After 020720 002.jpg

KEF 103.2 Crossover3.jpg
Thanks,
Joe
 
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